time off?

how many days in a row can you take off before you start losing fitness? ive heard that 3 days off or more and the fitness starts to go. is this true? maybe its more? or less (hopefully not)...

thanks

if i am really busy, I spend over a week off and I dont really notice losing, sometimes i even stronger...I think that the rest time might help your body, especially if your doing alot of hard rides. Im sure it depends on the persons age, ability, and genes

+1. Believe it's a lot more than 3 days to lose aerobic conditioning. After all, if it takes years and many thousands of miles to build up a cycling specific cardiovasular system, that's not going to disappear in a few days or weeks. Anyway, full recovery from a big event like a mountain century takes 3 days for me...or more. Might do some easy spinning on those days, but nothing else.

I've also taken weeks or more off when on trips, or from sickness, and feel better and stronger when getting back on the bike.

I just took 2 weeks off(sort of I went backpackin the Rocky Mountains of Colorado) prior to riding my first Century. I was really worried about the time off but I felt better on the day of the event than I have in a long time. But, I guess adrenaline does go a long way

I was looking for other riders experience on this very same thing.
If anyone has a link please let me know.

I ride about 5,000 kilometres per year and I track my average speed. After I got back from a two week vacation last year it took me one month to get my average speed back to where it was before my vacation. Recently I started riding again a couple of weeks after I had jaw surgery (for orthodontic reasons) and I am still a couple of kilometres per hour below my pre surgery pace. I know surgery is different than a vacation, but that is my experience.